Cotton harvester



O ct. 30, 1934. F. A. THOMANN COTTON HARVESTER Filed Jan. 29, 1954 BY:fm

A TTORNE ys.

Patented Oct. 30- 19341 COTTON HARVESTER Frederick A. Thomann, EastMoline, Ill.,l assigno'r to Deere & Company, Moline, Ill., a; corpora-ftion of Illinois Application January 29, 1934, Serial No. 708,796

6 Claims;

the cotton from the cotton plants as the machine is drawn along a plantrow.

More specically, the present invention' is prncipally concerned withharvesters in the form of implements having cotton stripping mechanism"1'. which comprises a downwardly and forwardly extendingY strippingmeansinthe form of a roll or rolls provided with a plurality of fingerswhich, when the rroll is rotated, serve to remove cotton v from theplants as the latter-are brought into the operative range of thestripping roll.

Another important object of the present inven- -tion is the provision ofnew and improved 'means for removing the cotton, stripped'from thecotton plants by the stripping mechanism, from v2() the stripping roll.Heretofore, the cotton has been stripped from the strippingfroll byvarious means, such as a slotted stripping plate, through the slots ofwhich the stripping roll fingers passed, the plate functioning to stripthe cotton from the iingers'of "said stripping roll. A machinehaving-these general characteristics is disclosed. in my copendingapplication, Serial No. 430,781, filed February 24, 1930, and I do notintend to claim here any of the features claimed in said copendingapplication.

Briefly, such new and improved stripping or dofng 'means consists of arotary dofng member rather than a stripping plate, and this rotary dofngmember preferably comprises a roll of substantially the same size as thestripping roll with'which it cooperates, the rotary doing roll having aseries of circumferential grooves provided for the purposeof receivingthe lingers of the stripping roll. The function of the dofng 40 roll isto strip the cotton from the fingers of the stripping roll and toVtransfer the cotton to an elevator or the like disposed along one sidefor conveying the stripped cotton to a hopper or preliminary cleaningmechanism. It has been found that the rotary dofnng roll performs itsfunction remarkably well and does not clog or choke up the machine.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of means fordriving the doiing roll at a somewhat greater peripheral velocity than,

but in the same direction of rotation as the stripping roll. y By virtueof this construction, the machine is kept clear.

These and other objects of the present invention will be apparent tothose skilledV in the art (Cl. 56-33'Y after a consideration of thefollowing detailed description of a construction embodying theprinciples of the present invention.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a top plan View of a horse-drawn 60 cotton harvesterembodying the lprinciples of the present invention Figure 2 is a crosssection taken along the line 2 2 of Figure l and looking in thedirection of the arrows; and

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section showing the construction ofthe dolng roll.

ReferringV now to the drawing, the invention has been illustrated asapplied to a horse-drawn cotton stripper, such as the one shown in the7o patentr to Bruce Morse, No. 1,933,922, issued November 7, 1933. Thecotton stripper illustrating the principles of the present inventionembodies a frame l supported on a driving axle 2 on the outer ends ofwhich are journaled supporting wheels. In the drawing, only one of suchwheels has been shown and that has been indicated vby the referencenumeral 3.

The cotton stripping mechanism embodies a stripping roll 4 supported inbearings 5 and 6 on 80 the frame 1 and provided with a plurality of rowsof stripping fingers 7 which are inclined in a clirection opposite tothe direction of rotation of the roll, as indicated in Figure 2, wherethe arrow 'indicates'the direction of rotation of the stripping 85 roll4. Asbest indicated in Figure 2, the stripping roll fingers 7 cooperatewith a smooth wall 8 carried by the frame l and positioned alongside thestripping roll 4 in close proximity thereto.

The front end of the machine is supported on a gauge wheel 11 journaledfor rotation between a pair of arms 12 fixed on a rock shaft 13 which isjournaled in bearings 14 and 15 secured to the front end of the frame 1of the machine, as best 95 shown in Figure l. The position of the frontend of the machine relative to the ground may be adjusted by rocking thewheel 11 about the axis of the rock shaft 13 relative to the frame, andto this end the machine is provided with suitable con- 100 trolconnections, including a link 16, by which the position of the gaugewheel 11 may be varied at will.

For guiding the cotton plants toward the stripping roll 4, a pair ofhooded shoes 17 are pivotally 105 connected with the forward end of theframe, and the inner walls of the shoes 17 are directed inwardly toguide the cotton plants between the stripping roll 4 and the cooperatingwall 8. Along the lower edge of the shoes 17 are fixed 110 grates 18 foraiding in picking loose cotton off the ground and directing the sametoward the stripping roll 4.

The cotton removed from the plants by the stripping roll 4 is, in turn,stripped from the stripping roll fingers 7 by means of a dofling memberin the form of a rotatable doiing roll 20. The dofng roll member 20 ispreferably of about the same diameter as the stripping roll 4 and isprovided with a circumferential recess 2l opposite each circumferentialor transverse row of fing-ers 7 on the stripping roll 4. As best shownin Figure l, the fingers 7 of each row project into the associatedrecess on the dofflng roll, and, as also best shown in Figure 1, thedistance between adjacent rows of fingers 7 progressively decreasestoward the rear and upper end of the stripping Vroll 4, and likewise,the distancebetween adjacent recesses 2l on the cloning roll alsoprogressively decreases correspondingly.

The construction -of the doiiing roll 20 is-best indicated in Figure 3andcomprises a shaft 23 having a series of n rings n24 mounted thereon.Pairs of cups are positioned on the shaft 23 to form, in effect, asmooth cylindrical roll with a'seriesof circumferential recesses betweenadjacent pairs, as indicated by the reference numeral 21.y -Eachofthecups 25 comprises a-central portion fitting the shaft 23 and aflange or rim portion, and the cups of each pair are mounted on theshaft so that the rims are in engagement, as indicated in Figure -3. Theaxial dimension of the rimsof the pairs ofcups 25 vary, as indicated inFigure l, so as to provide for the progressive decreasein the distancebetween'adv jacent transverse rows of fingers 7 on the stripping rolltowards the upper end of the latter. The doffing roll shaft 23 isjournaled ina bearing 27 at-the lower end of theirame and in a bearing28 at the upper end of the frame of the machine.

The mechanism including Athe stripping roll 4 and the doifing roll 20 isoperated from power derived from the driving axle 2 which is rotatedthrough lmore or less-conventional ratchet mechanism 34 provided foreachvdriving wheel 3. The axle 2 carries a-large sprocket and drives ajack shaft 35 by means of a chain 36 trained over the aforesaid sprocketand a small sprocket mounted -on the jack shaft 35, The small sprocketis connected to the jack shaft 35 through a;releasable clutchconstruction 37 which is adapted to be controlled by a shiftable lever38. The jack shaftr35 drives the stripping roll 4 bymeans of a bevelgear 40, fixed to the jack shaft 35,'which meshes with a bevel pinion 41fixed to the iupper end of a shaft-42 on which the stripping roll 44 ismounted. The ldofng roll 20 is driven from the stripping roll by Vmeansof 'a chain and sprocket connection 43 with the stripping roll shaft 42.

Disposed alongside the doing roll 20 and carried in any suitable mannerby the implement frame 1, is a longitudinally disposed trough 51, bestshown vin Figure 2, which is provided -with an inner wall 52 disposedclosely adjacent to the dofilng member20. Thebottom of the trough 51 isslotted, as indicated at 53, to permit foreign matter such as sand,dirt, and the like, to -fall lthrough onto the ground. A series ofrotating elevating members 54 are rotatably mounted in the outer wall 55vof the trough or casing and function to convey the vcotton deliveredinto lthe trough-51 to the rear of the machine and into a receptacle, orother cotton-treating mechanism,

y asmaybejprovided. The number of these rotat- 4.i/erition, issubstantially as follows.

`and the rotationof the jack shaft 35 drives the Levasss ing elevatingmembers may vary, as desired, three being shown in Figure 1. The rearelevating member 54 is driven from the jack shaft 35 through a chain andsprocket connection 56 and a slip clutch 57, and the forward elevatingmembers 54 are operated from the rear elevating member by means vof achain and sprocket connection 53 with the rear member.

The operation of the machinerdescribed above, and embodying theprinciples of the present in- As the machine is propelled along a plantrow, the rotation of .the supporting wheels 3 drives the jack shaft 35through thechain and sprocket connection 36,

stripping roll-4 through the bevel gearing 40, 41. The rotation of thestripping roll causes the doffingroll member 20 to rotate in the samedirection, and the rotation of the doiing roll serves to remove thecotton from the fingers 7 of the stripping roll and to convey-the cottonover the inner wall 52 of the trough 51. The cotton in the trough 5l isconveyed and simultaneously given a prelimi-v narycleaning by therotating elements 54 which are driven by the chain and sprocketVconnections :00 56 and 58. The mechanism is thrown in and out ofoperation-byA the lever `33, and the slip, clutch 57 serves to protectthe mechanism in the-event that the-rotating members 54 are subjected toan overload. Likewise, the clutch S'Zmay-includean :135 overloadrelease, if desired, to protect the rolls4 and 20. Y -V While I havedescribed abovethe preferred construction in which the principles of thepresent invention have been embodied, it is to be under- 1 -l5 stoodthat my invention is not to be limited-tothe specific details shown anddescribed, but that, in fact, widely different means maybe employedinthe practice of the broader aspects of ,myinvention.

What I claim, therefore, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: Y

1. In a cotton harvesting machine, row-following plant stripping meanscomprising a stripping roll having fingers thereon for stripping cottonfrom plants guided-to said roll, a doing roll dish posed adjacent tosaid stripping rolll andhaving a plurality of recessed sections intowhich said ngers projectas the stripping roll isrotated, and means forrotating said rolls. Y

Y 2. In a cotton harvesting machine, rowfollowing plant stripping means`comprising a stripping 'roll having ngers thereon Afor stripping cottonfrom plants guidedlto said-roll, a doing rollpdis posed adjacent to saidstripping rolland having a :13g plurality of fgrooves arranged toreceive said ngers as the stripping roll is rotated, and means fordriving the doiiing-roll in the same direction as but at -a greaterperipheral velocity thanV said stripping roll. .-135

3. In Va cotton harvesting machine, row-following plant strippingmeans'comprising'a stripping roll having fingers thereon forstripping'cotton from plants guided to said roll, a doing roll 'disposedadjacent to said stripping roll and having MQ a plurality of groovesarranged to receive said` fingers as the stripping roll is rotated,`Vmeans for driving one of said rolls, and means for driving the otherroll from said one roll `at `adifferent peripheral velocity. f

y4. In a cotton'harvesting'machine, row-following plant stripping meanscomprisinga stripping roll having fingers thereon disposed in transverseaxially spaced rows for stripping cotton from plantsguided'to said roll,adofling roll disposed ll-50 substantially parallel to said strippingroll and having a plurality of circumferential recesses, one oppositeeach row of ngers, into which the fingers of the row successivelyproject as the stripping roll is rotated, and means for rotating saidrolls in the same direction.

5. n a cotton harvesting machine, row-following plant stripping meanscomprising a pair of cooperating members, means for guiding cottonplants between said members as said machine is advanced, one of saidmembers comprising a downwardly and forwardly inclined stripping rollhaving ngers thereon disposed in transverse axially spaced rowscooperating with the other member to strip cotton from the plants guidedtherebetween, a doing roll disposed alongside said roll on the sideopposite said other member and provided with a series of circumferentialrecesses, one for each transverse row of fingers, into which thengersproject in the operation of the machine, and means for rotating saidrolls in the same direction.

6. In a cotton harvesting machine, row-following plant stripping meanscomprising a pair of cooperating members, means for guiding cottonplants between said members as said machine is advanced, one of saidmembers comprising a downwardly and forwardly inclined stripping rollhaving fingers thereon disposed in transverse axially spaced rowscooperating with the other member to strip cotton from the plants guidedtherebetween, a dofng roll disposed alongside said roll on the sideopposite said other member and provided with a series of circumferentialrecesses, one for each transverse row of fingers, into which the ngersproject in the operation of the machine, means providing a cottonreceiving passageway extending alongside, cotton elevating means movablein said passageway, and means for rotating both of said rolls and saidelevating means simultaneously.

FREDERICK A. THOMANN.

